Low, Not Slow!

February 2022 Feature Chris Tobin

This article originally appeared in the November 2021 issue.

In the time of trailer-queen show trucks we regularly see at diesel performance shows and events across the country it is great to come across one that looks like a show truck, works like a farm truck and flies like a race truck. We found that elusive combination within Jeremy Roop’s low slung 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD two-wheel-drive dually.

Roop purchased the truck new in 2008 and has been customizing it in various ways throughout the years in an evolution that does not seem to show an end any time soon. Like most gearheads he says he is still working on his build and never expects it to be done. In the meantime, we will showcase his Silverado in its show winning 600hp trim.

It is hard to look beyond the 26-inch polished forged aluminum Forgiato Duro Drea-D 10-lug wheels with rubber band-like ultralow-profile 295/30ZR26 Lexani LX-Thirty tires. While six of the huge rollers set the tone for the truck, they are framed with a lowered chassis thanks to a DJM Suspension 3/5-inch lowering kit that Roop installed to give the truck an aggressive sport truck feel. In the rear a set of HSP Diesel traction bars powder-coated bright white prevent axle wrap under hard acceleration with that huge contact patch of four ultra-performance tires gripping the asphalt.

To complete the exterior look, Roop painted the front and rear bumpers in color-matched white and installed a slick grille shell with a black mesh grille with white frame and a matching white Bowtie. He then installed a BAK Industries RollBAK tonneau cover to protect cargo in the bed along with covering the Reece 5th wheel hitch mount when he is not towing his toy hauler RV. Improving both the looks and lighting, he replaced all the factory lights with smoked replacements from Recon and installed a set of 2015 model tow mirrors with LED accents. Speaking of LED accent lighting, he also installed accents inside each wheel as well as in the lower valence and even under the hood with a white LED Bowtie.

Under the hood Roop upgraded the LMM Duramax with bolt-on parts including an Industrial Injection dual CP3 kit to give plenty of #2 to the stock injectors without loosing rail pressure. He also replaced the factory boost tubes with upgraded tubes from HSP Diesel that are powder-coated white with black accents and match the fabricated coolant hose, coolant tank, air filter and housing as well as the intake tube to the Garrett Powermax Stage 2 turbo charger that replaced the stock unit. Spent exhaust gasses are sent out from the engine through a Jamo stainless steel 5-inch diameter exhaust system capped by a 7-inch diameter polished stainless steel stack that was turned horizontally to exit the truck in the factory position.

A FASS lift pump and filter system is used to deliver the fuel from the tank to the CP3s under the hood while EFILive tuning from Danville Performance was employed to tickle the 1s and 0s into making more than 600 horsepower with 1,100 lbs-ft of torque. Roop turned to the experts at SunCoast diesel to build his Allison transmission to hold up to the additional grunt from the upgraded Duramax engine. They are using a SunCoast billet flexplate along with a SunCoast 2,200 RPM stall speed billet torque converter and high-performance clutches and steels throughout the Allison. The combination has run a best ET of 13.18 seconds in the 1/4-mile which is very fast for a truck that tips the scales at nearly 8,000 pounds running the stock Duramax engine.

The interior of Roop’s Silverado is about the only area that isn’t highly modified, it features supple factory black leather upholstery that is comfortable if not custom. He installed an Edge Products CTS2 display to keep an eye on the engine and transmission vitals along with a custom sub enclosure with a 10-inch Kicker sub under the driver side rear seat driven by a 250-watt Kicker amplifier. While we were shooting the truck, he told us that he planned to upgrade the interior soon to make it stand out as well as the rest of the truck.

Roop drives the truck on a regular basis and is not afraid to travel from his home in Maryland all over the east, Midwest and southeast to attend shows and events. When he gets there, he typically enters and often wins the show-n-shine, but his truck is usually not stationary. More times than not you will see the truck blasting down the drag strip or spinning the rollers on the chassis dyno as he takes an active approach to showing off his Silverado.

In the time since we shot the truck Roop has not only completed his upgrade of the interior bringing white accents into the trim and upholstery he has also swapped out the stock LMM Duramax long block for a fully built Wagler Competition Performance engine that is making around 1,200 horsepower with a Borg Warner S480 over S366 compound turbo setup. He hasn’t been able to get new track numbers with the new combination yet as the street tires, even with four of them trying, are no match for the Wagler grunt and they go up in smoke whenever he gets into the throttle. To see the latest on the rig look him up on his social media channels or better yet look for it in person at the next major diesel event, you’ll be able to find him in the show-n-shine, on the dragstrip, on the dyno or cruising around having fun with his friends!

Sources:

Allison Transmission

317-242-5000

www.allisontransmission.com

BorgWarner

www.borgwarner.com

Danville Performance

317-745-8587

www.danvilleperformance.com

DJM Suspension

310-538-1583

www.djmsuspension.com